Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

The good news about MIPS? Practices won’t have to do very much in 2017 to avoid reimbursement penalties in 2019.

Minimum reporting requirements were scaled down drastically in the final rule (compared to the proposed rule). CMS estimates that at least 90 percent of practices will receive a positive or neutral MIPS payment adjustment for the first performance year.

There is only a 90-day reporting period in 2017, during which practices must do one of these three options:

1. Report at least one quality measure, one time, on one patient, or
2. Perform at least one Clinical Practice Improvement Activity (CPIA), or
3. Meet the four Advancing Care Information (ACI) base measures.

The requirements for 2017 are pretty easy, but don’t let them lull you into thinking MIPS is a cakewalk, experts warn. Think of 2017 as a “catch your breath” year — a time to do the bare minimum to meet MIPS requirements as you ponder what it means for your practice’s finances long-term and whether you want to play MIPS for realsies.

Next month in Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert, we’ll explain the three options for complying with MIPS in more detail to help you choose the easiest and best option for your practice. Plus, we’ll map out the steps to meeting those requirements.